falkeis2architects: active energy building

The exhibition "falkeis2architects: active energy building" details the extensive research by the Austrian architects Anton Falkeis & Cornelia Falkeis-Senn, and the many advances in materials, building, and network design that led to a truly "active building".
The project demonstrates that innovation will be our best strategy in tackling major societal challenges, such as climate change, energy and resource scarcity. The exhibition showcases technological innovation as the carrier of societal innovation, and the improvement of the quality of life as the result of an architectural endeavor. The project is a prototype of a new urban and decentralized energy production system providing a more democratic model of energy production as well as energy distribution.

The exhibition "falkeis2architects: active energy building" details the extensive research by the Austrian architects Anton Falkeis & Cornelia Falkeis-Senn, and the many advances in materials, building, and network design that led to a truly "active building". The project demonstrates that innovation will be our best strategy in tackling major societal challenges, such as climate change, energy and resource scarcity.
It successfully implements a building-integrated energy production system developed for this new type of building. PV tracking systems and PCM climate wings, part of a moving building envelope, harvest solar and interstellar radiation, producing solar power and controlling the building climate. The building also demonstrates its high adaptability to changing spatial requirements, achieved by an extremely effective load-bearing structure.
The active energy building works as a networked structure managing a local cluster, and is a smart node interconnecting existing buildings; sharing information as well as energy surplus. Based on this sharing logic, technological innovation becomes the carrier of societal innovation, and the improvement in quality of life the result of an architectural endeavor. Thus, the active energy building becomes a prototype for a new urban and decentralized energy production system, providing a more democratic model of energy production as well as energy distribution.

ACTIVE ENERGY BUILDING
Today ́s cities are responsible for 75 percent of the world ́s energy consumption, emitting 80 percent of man-made carbon dioxide. Over the last few decades, urban agglomerations have been very successful in absorbing population growth and drawing in rural populations. They are now home to more than 50 percent of the world ́s population. Acknowledging these facts and facing the process of rapid urbanization demands new strategies for reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption. As one possible answer to this urgent question, falkeis2architects have developed and realized the first ‘Active Energy Building’. This project is the winning entry from an international competition for an apartment building in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Based on intense research, the project successfully implements a building-integrated energy production system developed for this new type of building. PV tracking systems and PCM climate wings, part of a moving building envelope, harvest solar and interstellar radiation, producing solar power and controlling the building climate. The building also demonstrates its high adaptability to changing spatial requirements, achieved by an extremely effective load-bearing structure.
The project aims at delivering a contribution to the improvement of urban living conditions and energy demands. It works as a networked structure managing a local cluster, and is a smart node interconnecting existing buildings; sharing information as well as energy surplus. Based on this sharing logic, technological innovation becomes the carrier of societal innovation, and the improvement in quality of life the result of an architectural endeavor. Thus, the Active Energy Building becomes a prototype for a new urban and decentralized energy production system, providing a more democratic model of energy production as well as energy distribution.
Building Innovation for Architecture in Motion
Applied trans-disciplinary research is the foundation for the architectural work of falkeis2architects and includes acoustical phenomena, building-integrated energy production and sustainable structures as well as ‘biological approaches’ to building, structural and urban design, and the social impact of technological innovations.
Some of the research findings for the Active Energy Building were developed further into innovative products such as the acoustically active 3D light fields, the high-performance concrete with an outstanding reproduction quality and the multi-component molding technique. Some of these technological inventions yielded a patent, like the movable building envelope, or were built as prototypes demonstrating new knowledge in the field of digital fabrication, such as the 3D freeform textile building envelope – working as a shading device – and the complex 3D Voronoi load-bearing structure.
Sustainability as a Holistic Concept
Aimed at tackling and solving the challenges of environmental change, the project is built according to the envisioned standards of climate change neutrality in 2050. Investigating new strategies for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, the whole project is developed upon the inherent logic of sustainability.
Sustainability as a holistic concept becomes form-generating. This applies to the massing of the building as well as to the construction of the load-bearing elements and the development of the energy technology.
On the level of construction, sustainability is defined by the adaptability of the building itself. The design and distribution of the load-bearing elements allows for spatial reprogramming over the entire lifespan of the building without impacting load-bearing components.
On the level of energy design, the building is sustainable because of its exclusive use of renewable forms of energy, and due to the local energy production and new techniques regulating the building climate.
Energy Design
The main goal of the ‘active energy building’ is to create a sustainable structure producing more energy than it consumes. The building is energy-autonomous as it utilizes renewable energy exclusively, produces energy locally and employs new techniques regulating the building climate. The energy supply is based on renewable sources: geothermal energy and passive and active utilization of solar power.
Passive solar gains are part of the building’s heating system. Active usage of solar radiation includes solar power production and systems that support climate regulation in the building. Therefore, solar and interstellar radiation is made productive for the air-conditioning of the building by means of facade elements with latent heat storage devices specifically developed for the ‘active energy building’. The building works as a networked structure managing a local cluster. It is a smart node interconnecting existing buildings, sharing information as well as energy surplus.
Active solar energy utilization
The ‘active energy building’ works like a local solar power plant, using e-mobility as temporary storage and the reservoirs of hydro power plants to store the surplus created at peak hours. The building is therefore equipped with a movable building envelope to harvest solar radiation for energy production and heating, and interstellar radiation for cooling. The entire roof and south side of the building produce solar power. Building integrated PV-tracking systems, developed for this project, increase the solar energy production by a factor of 2.9.
The western and eastern sides of the building are equipped with ‘climate wings’ using Phase Change Material (PCM) as latent heat storage units. Large amounts of energy are stored by encapsulated PCMs mounted in the climate wings when the wings are exposed to the sun or to interstellar radiation. The energy is released when the wings are folded back and connect to the building ́s ventilation system.

Biographies

Anton Falkeis & Cornelia Falkeis-Senn are the founders of falkeis|architects.vienna (1988), falkeis|architects.vaduz (2011) and the falkeis2architects.building innovation lab (2011).
The architectural work of falkeis.architects has been widely published and was exhibited at Venice Biennale, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Los Angeles, Vienna. It includes realizations such as the Active Energy Building, Vaduz; Curhaus St. Stephan’s Square, Vienna; “Austria Abroad”, Austrian Parliament, Vienna; Museum and Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance, Vienna; Attic Conversion - University of Applied Arts, Vienna; Mauthausen Memorial.

Writings by Anton Falkeis and Cornelia Falkeis-Senn include: “Featureless City”, “Western Style and Eastern Mind”, “Urbanizing the world”, “Thinking out of the Urban Design Toolbox”, “Urban Change”, and “Active Buildings”.
The active energy building in Vaduz, Liechtenstein has been nominated for the Nachhaltigkeitspreis of the Internationale Bodensee Konferenz 2017.
Cornelia Falkeis-Senn studied architecture and design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. She started her academic career with a research collaboration on the project ‘Architecture of the 20th Century in Austria’ directed by Prof. Friedrich Achleitner (1986-1988) and was Guest Researcher at the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1992. From 1991-1997 she was Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Technology, Vienna.
Cornelia Falkeis-Senn is JSPS fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
Anton Falkeis studied architecture at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He is a licensed architect in Austria and Liechtenstein. He started his academic career as a guest researcher at the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1992 and has been teaching and lecturing at several universities such as Royal College of Art London, ELISAVA Barcelona, ESAG Paris, KADK Copenhagen, and most recently at the MIT Media Lab Boston. He is Full Professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, where he was Vice-Dean of the School of Architecture from 1999 to 2003. Since 2000 he is Head of Department for Special Topics in Architecture Design. In 2012, he was Guest Professor at Nanjing University of Art China, conducting the experimental studio. He was the founding Head of Department Social Design from 2012 to 2015. 2013-2017 he was Dean of the Institute Arts and Society at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. He is visiting critic at ETH Zürich and a frequent speaker at international conferences.
Anton Falkeis is JSPS fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

http://www.mak.at/en/program/exhibitions/exhibitions?article_id=1519129317890

falkeis2architects: active energy building , MAK

Events

06. June 2018 - 29. July 2018
MAK, Stubenring 5, 1010 Wien